the modern age

my friends shiela and rico just got married a week ago. i wasn't able to attend the wedding but i absolutely LOVED the invitation. proof that you don't need a script typeface for a formal wedding. a clean and simple sans serif is perfectly capable of conveying elegance, AND ensuring readability mind you.

and who won't take note of the date? it's the only thing on the invite they embossed.

i also commend the choice of quote. it's not very easy to find a pull-out that isn't so cheesy. this one was just right and very tasteful.

i wish more weddings would take on this modern tone. there's so much to explore with the use of structure, clean lines, and yes, even less flowers. less is more after all.

oiling my machine

i took on a part-time job recently as a freelance project manager for a boutique advertising agency. i did it to augment my income, and also because well, i kind of need to embrace the stress again. this is me oiling my machine. the good thing about it being part-time is that i still get to do my wedding work, which is still my priority at the moment. the BEST thing about it is, in the course of the last week or so, i realized JUST HOW MUCH i love doing weddings.

for instance, a friend of mind getting married a year and a half from now insisted that i plan her cebu destination wedding. i went to cebu recently to visit my grandma and conduct oculars as well. my husband accompanied me to about 7 different mactan venues. we took tons of hi-res pictures and videos. this bride is one of my closest friends in the world, so i told her, this would be my gift to her. considering i'm not earning a single thing from this, i spent all of today (sunday) making her a 34-slide keynote presentation (about 31MB) comprised of detailed accounts of each venue. i even began and ended the entire presentation in her wedding theme colors. considering all the other work i had to do today, talagang kinareer ko ito! not only because i love my friend, but also because i just loooove wedding-related work. i barely even noticed the time go by. i was just so immersed in it.

so i thank the stress of advertising. sometimes, you don't know how much you love something until you're faced with something else.

typophilia

i've always had a love of fonts. i never quite knew what to do with it. i mean, in spite of my collection of journals, it's not like i could actually write in them using my favorite fonts.

but now that i'm a wedding planner, that love for typography has found its place in my life. i go crazy when a bride asks me for a font suggestion, or even just asks me what i think of the typeface she plans to use for her invite. it excites me to no end.

the one thing i always tell my brides is not to settle for just any typeface. i don't know how many times i've seen shelley volante used as a wedding invitation font, and honestly, there has got to be something better! formal romantic script isn't just limited to the shelley volantes and andantes of this world. there are so many other fonts with so much more character and history.

my current favorite is hannibal lecter which i used at my own wedding. okay, so it may not be the most reader-friendly font there is, but really, it reeks of character. i used it again for my calling card, and just asked my graphic designer to tweak the F a little bit so that my name correctly read Fong, instead of well, Jong.

bottomline is dear brides, take your time, do your research and choose your fonts wisely. there are more than enough typefaces in this world for you to be able to pick one that communicates your wedding theme in a classy and elegant way, and isn't overused. remember that this is something you don't have even have to pay for. it's completely free, and simply choosing the right one does wonders for the simplest of wedding invites.

i want some of that

i started my day meeting with an upcoming event stylist, Myke Francis Oropesa Mayores (featured in Wedding Essentials mag, Jan-June 2009). well, he's not exactly new in the business, but he's new in my life. what a refreshing discussion it was. if there's anything i love about this job, it's meeting with people who are just inherently creative and have a natural eye for what really is beautiful. (i don't care if they say 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'. let's face it, some things are just ugly no matter how you turn it around haha.) it's so enriching to encounter people who are constantly seeking to create something new or "evolve" something old.

anyway, thanks to my new supplier, i was introduced to the work of Tord Boontje. a new design site for me to marvel at. it's just amazing the amount of creativity that goes around. where do people get their ideas?!? if there's such an infinite amount of new ideas just waiting to be plucked from the air, when am i gonna' get my hands on some?!!

from Studio Tord Boontje: wool carpet dye-cut into what appears to be fallen leaves for that autumn effect. a very simple but brilliant idea.

one fine day

one day, i will have a wedding that looks like this in my portfolio. i am declaring it and sending it out there into the universe.

and one day, i WILL work with preston bailey.

getting my feet wet

some weddings i've helped with in the past.

this alabang bride was just the sweetest bride i've ever met in my life. from her demeanor down to the quality of her voice -- everything about her disposition was just so pleasant. and her groom was utter coolness. he totally brought the house down with some serious gee-tawr skills!




a really fun and touching wedding in quezon city. the games were hilarious because the couple's friends were just so into it. and the charming bride and groom kept thanking us again and again as the night came to a close.




having fun with my 2-way radio. when i got married, i was actually concerned about having my coordinators hold walkie-talkies. i was worried that they wouldn't look nice and would cause disturbances during the wedding. but amy explained that given the size of the church and ballroom, they would really need the gadgets to be able to coordinate properly. looking back at my own wedding, i realize i didn't notice them using it. i didn't even notice the coordinating team, that's how inconspicuous they were. and i feel that's important for coordinators to master. it's really difficult, and can't always be achieved, but they should be able to orchestrate a wedding as "invisibly" as they can.



a laid-back wedding in punta fuego. we encountered some challenges (no wedding is exempt from this) but all in all, it was a really beautiful beachside affair. the bride walked "up" the staircase aisle to "After All" (from the movie Chances Are), and as expected, i was close to bawling.

some people say i'm insane to be doing this for a living. and that coordinating weddings is extremely high-pressure (after all, a couple's one most important day depends almost entirely on me!). in fact, it's more personal than it is business, which makes it even more stressful. but when i think about the creative elements that go into the making of a wedding, coupled with all the tearful emotions that you witness on their big day, it makes everything worth it. this may sound so cliche, but when i see a bride walking down the aisle, or hear a father's voice crack in mid-speech, i remember why i'm a wedding planner.

for amy.

we probably met with 6 coordinators before we finally decided to turn our wedding day over to the very capable hands of amy. when you meet reputable coordinators, they offer more or less the same service options, all mostly within the same price ranges. so it really just boils down to a very personal feel for the person. when you meet the right one, very simply, a match is a match.

amy felt like an old friend. and she turned into a new one. when i told her a few months after my wedding that i was thinking of becoming a planner myself, she immediately offered to mentor me. this was waaaaay more than i was hoping for, considering she was going to help develop someone who might potentially become a competitor.

she wasn't worried about that at all. instead, she remembered when she herself was starting out with no one to guide her, and decided she would save me from that. what i did to deserve this generous offer, i have no idea. all i know is, i wouldn't be brave enough to do what i'm doing now without amy's help and encouragement.

and so, with this blog entry, i acknowledge and thank you ames for being my friend and mentor. i wish there was some way i could repay you, but for now, i can only hope that this is somehow enough.